Improved railroad-switch



UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICEC JOHN A. WILLIAMSON, OF LAFAYETTE, INDIANA.

IM PROVED RAILROAD-SWITCH.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,943, dated June 26, 1866.

To all 'whom 'it 'may concern.:

Be it known that I, .TOEN A. WILLIAMSON, of Lafayette, in the county Of Tippecanoe and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Device for Placing Cars on Railroad- Tracks, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art tO make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, in which Figure l is a plan Or ltop View of my invention applied to the rails of a track; Fig. 2, a detached side view Ot' the same; Fig. 3, a section of Fig. 2, taken in the line x fr.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

- lhis invention relates to a new and improved device for placing cars on the track When the former have been casual y displaced from the latter or have accidentallyv run Oif.

The invention consists in the employment Or use of a bridge to st-raddle the rail, said bridge having a guide at its upper surface, and also an inclined bar, attached by a pin or bolt, all being arranged, as hereinafter set forth, whereby a car may be replaced on the track with the greatest facility.

A represcntswhat I term a bridge;7 which may be Of cast or wrought iron, and of such dimensions that it may be fitted transversely over a rail, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, the bridge resting on the ground or on a sleeper or tie.

On the upper surface Of the bridge A there is a guide, B, which is directly over and inline with the rail which the bridge straddles. The

rear part of this guide B is halved out, as shown at a, Fig. 2, to receive underneath it al projecting lip, b, of a bar or rail, C, and a pin, c, passes through the guide and the rail Or bar where said parts are halved together, forming ajoint, which admits of the rail or bar being adjusted Or turned to either side of the rail of the road, and in line with one Of the Wheels of the truck which is off'froln the track.

There are two Of these devices, one to be applied to each rail ,of thel track, so that a bar Or rail, G, may be adjusted in line with each wheel tO be guided on the rails. (See Fig. l, in which two car-Wheels are shown in red.)

The bars or rails G G are inclined so that they may rest or bear upon the ground at their outer ends, and the under surfaces Of said ends are beveled and provided with spurs d, to prevent them froln slipping.

The car-wheels, by drawing the car forward, will pass up the inclined bars or rail (l C, and On reaching the guides B B will be conducted by the latter down upon the rails, the upper surfaces of the guides B B being inclined tO admit Of the gradual descent Of theV wheels upon the rails.

This device may be made quite portable, so

that it may be convenientlyr carried On the tender of a locomotive Or on a car. llt may be applied to the rails and adjusted to the wheels designed to be guided on the track with the greatest facility.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination of the bridge A, tapered guideI B, and tapered bar C, when the latter is securely pivoted tO the guide B, and all constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.

JOHN A. WILLIAMSON. 

